OUR REVIEW & RATING ★★★☆☆

Real Steel quotes are a little syrupy and somewhat predictable but manage to be very crowd pleasing. The story is very basic involving a solid mix of underdog fighting with a father and son bonding drama set against the backdrop of some wickedly cool looking robots fighting.

It borrows a lot of themes from other movies and is unashamedly very formulaic and sappy, but the fact that it’s played with such sincerity is what gives it heart and ultimately makes it work.

Verdict: It solidly and confidently delivers the crowd pleasing goods.

Big Sister: What robot’s he fighting?Charlie Kenton: Actually, he’s gonna…[the little sister takes out a camera to take a photo]Charlie Kenton: Woh! Woh! Woh, little lady! What are you doin’?Little Sister: Can we get a picture of him?Charlie Kenton: Sure, for five dollars.Big Sister: You want five dollars? Seriously?Charlie Kenton: No, I want five dollars immediately.Little Sister: Come on guys.[the sisters turn to leave]Charlie Kenton: Alright. Alright. Alright, I’m kiddin’! Three bucks?[the girls walk away]Big Sister: Whatever!Charlie Kenton: How about two fifty?Big Sister: You suck!

[getting ready for Ambush to fight in a match at a small rodeo ring]Charlie Kenton: We agreed that my boxer would fight an eight hundred pound steer for three grand. Am I right?Ricky: Yes, sir, we did. Yes, sir.Charlie Kenton: Now, that bull is like two thousand pounds.Ricky: Right. Okay. Well, Charlie I’ll tell you somethin’, your bot don’t fight, you don’t get paid! Wooh! How about that?[the large Texan man standing next Charlie laughs and Charlie looks at him]Charlie Kenton: Get the hell outta here!

Charlie Kenton: Why don’t we make this more interesting? My bot against your bull straight up.Ricky: How much?Charlie Kenton: Twenty grand, winner takes all.Ricky: You got twenty grand, Charlie?Charlie Kenton: It’s safe in my truck.Ricky: Alright, Charlie.Charlie Kenton: Alright.Ricky: I tell you what, twenty grand it is. But if you lose, and you will, I’m gonna come after you and I’m gonna beat you within an inch of your life. And you know that I could do that, cause I already done it.

Charlie Kenton: What’s the problem with you, man? Why do you have to get too close? In the ring you stand back like a girl. [he pushes Ricky away]Charlie Kenton: Just shake.[he puts his hand out for Ricky to shake]Ricky: Alright, Charlie. Shake it is…pow![suddenly he punches the air close to Charlie’s face]Ricky: Just like that once again! Wanna dance again? Wanna dance? [turns to the crowd behind him]Ricky: Come on! Cheer for this guy, give him some love, he needs it!

[as Ambush is being destroyed by the bull in the ring]Charlie Kenton: Ricky, enough! Enough!Ricky: I can’t hear you over the sound of your robot being destroyed![the crowd cheers ‘kill’ as the bulls totally destroy Ambush and Charlie has lost the fight]

[Charlie sees the trio of sisters that had wanted to take a photo leave the arena with Ambush’s severed leg as a souvenir]Charlie Kenton: Hey! Hey! Give me that leg?Big Sister: Sure, for five dollars.Littlest Sister: Boo-ya!

[Charlie is about to make a quick getaway in his truck when he gets accosted by two men, Charlie turns and decks one of them]Charlie Kenton: One more step and I’ll drop you like your girlfriend.San Leandro Gentleman #2: Charlie, relax![assuming they are Ricky’s men coming for his money]Charlie Kenton: I’m not paying you, that was a bogus fight! It cost me my last robot.San Leandro Gentleman #2: Just listen to us.San Leandro Gentleman #1: Do you recall Carolyn Fallon?Charlie Kenton: She’s my ex-girlfriend. I have seen her in like ten years. What does she want?San Leandro Gentleman #2: Nothing, she died.San Leandro Gentleman #1: Do you recall Max Kenton?Charlie Kenton: Uh…he’s my son. He’s gotta be like nine or…San Leandro Gentleman #2: Eleven.Charlie Kenton: Eleven, okay. Is he dead too?San Leandro Gentleman #1: No, he’s fine. That’s why we’re here.

Aunt Debra: Your Honor, please may I go and see my nephew now?Judge: Yes, you may. How about you, Mr. Kenton?Charlie Kenton: Uh…what?Judge: You can spend some time with him, if you’d like.Charlie Kenton: With the kid?Aunt Debra: Yeah, the kid! The kid! Max, your son?Charlie Kenton: Alright! Alright!Aunt Debra: You’ve been working with those robots for so long you’ve become one.

[after Charlie notices that Debra and her husband are rich and he hatches a plan to get money out of them]Marvin: Marvin Barnes, I’m Debra’s husband.Charlie Kenton: Right, yeah.Marvin: You know, Debra really wants to adopt Max. And um…uh…I’m up for it. But um…Charlie Kenton: Seventy five grand.Marvin: Seventy five thousand dollars? You’re serious?Charlie Kenton: Hmm.Marvin: The thing is, we’re supposed to go to Italy this summer with my oldest friend and his wife, two months in Tuscany.Charlie Kenton: Oh, just the four of you. Sounds nice.

Marvin: We’ll be back in New York by the end of August.Charlie Kenton: In August. A hundred.Marvin: A hundred thousand?Charlie Kenton: You heard me.Marvin: You’re crazy!Charlie Kenton: Not nearly as crazy as your wife if she you tell I decided to hand over the kid to the State of Texas. The way I see it there’s a real way everyone gets what they want here. So here’s what you’re gonna do. You’re gonna tell your wife I’ll only sign over custody to her if I get to spend the summer with the kid first. Okay? Just tell her how guilty she made me feel for being such a terrible absentee dad and how I wanna make good with junior and a little fatherly bonding, what not. She’ll buy it, you’ll get to be the hero and everybody wins.Marvin: Okay. But not a word about the money to Debra, you understand?Charlie Kenton: I understand.Marvin: I’ll give you fifty grand tonight when we drop off Max, and the other fifty when we get back in August and you deliver him to us in New York.Charlie Kenton: Pleasure doing business with you.

Bailey Tallet: Charlie, let me make something clear. A creep dude with a robot in a box has been sitting outside my gym for two hours. Now, putting aside the fact that you’re doing what I’m guessing is a black market deal on my doorstep?Charlie Kenton: Mm-hmm.Bailey Tallet: How are you gonna pay him when Ambush just got destroyed?Charlie Kenton: The money is on its way, just you know, distract him.Bailey Tallet: I have been. It’s exhausting,Charlie Kenton: You’re the best, Baile.Bailey Tallet: Yeah, really? Charlie Kenton: Mm-hmm.Bailey Tallet: Is that why you’re buying a forty five thousand dollar robot, when you owe me six grand rent? Cause I’m the best?Charlie Kenton: Three![she slaps him lightly in the face]Bailey Tallet: No! Six.

Bailey Tallet: No, listen. Charlie, there is a guy with real money who wants to buy this placeCharlie Kenton: Come on! Like you really gonna sell your dad’s gym?Bailey Tallet: If you don’t make rent, I can’t make payments and I won’t have a choice.Charlie Kenton: You’re father will climb out of his grave and kick your ass if you sell this place.Bailey Tallet: No, my father would climb out of this grave and kick your ass!Charlie Kenton: Bailey.

[he stares at her]Bailey Tallet: Don’t.Charlie Kenton: Don’t what?Bailey Tallet: Don’t do that. That![she turns her face from him]Charlie Kenton: Hey. Don’t what?Bailey Tallet: Don’t do that thing.Charlie Kenton: Oh, you like that thing?Bailey Tallet: No.Charlie Kenton: Yeah.Bailey Tallet: No. No, I don’t like that thing. I used to once, briefly. Now I like money more.Charlie Kenton: I don’t believe you.Bailey Tallet: I don’t care.

[after Marvin and Debra drop Max off with Charlie]Charlie Kenton: I’m Charlie. It’s been a long time. You know I’m your…Max Kenton: You screwed me!Charlie Kenton: Nice mouth.Max Kenton: Do you know where they’re going?Charlie Kenton: Italy?Max Kenton: Yeah, Italy. So how did I get stuck here with you?Charlie Kenton: Relax, kid. You got a whole life of fine living ahead of you.

[referring to Bailey who’s going back into the gym after Charlie hands over the money to her]Charlie Kenton: So listen, you’re gonna stay here with her while I’m on the road.Max Kenton: How much did he give you, huh?Charlie Kenton: You coming to this the wrong way, kid.Max Kenton: No, tell me! I want to know.Charlie Kenton: Fifty thousand. Okay? He gave me fifty thousand dollars to sign you over to her. Will you shut up now?Max Kenton: You sold me?Charlie Kenton: Sounds worse than it is.Max Kenton: Really?Charlie Kenton: Is that…it’s just to take care of you.Max Kenton: Just give me half the money and you won’t have to.Charlie Kenton: Where you gonna go?Max Kenton: Just give me the money, I’ll be fine.Charlie Kenton: No, I told your aunt I’d get you to New York at the end of the summer.Max Kenton: Now you’re concerned for aunt Debra? You sold me for fifty grand! You owe me half!Charlie Kenton: I don’t have it. I spent the money on a robot. It’s gone! Okay? Gone! Uh, I’m through with this.[he turns and walks back to the gym]

[referring to the giant container holding the robot that Charlie has just bought]Charlie Kenton: Right, what do we got?Bailey Tallet: Noisy Boy has arrived!Charlie Kenton: Ah, that’s a lot of airline stickers and customs tags.Bailey Tallet: Yep. He’s been all over the world. [reading the airline stickers on the container]Charlie Kenton: London, Japan, Brazil, St. Paulo.Bailey Tallet: He hasn’t seen North American soil in over two years. Maybe that’s why you got such a good price.

[as Max enter they gym]Charlie Kenton: Decided to stay, huh? Right, this is Bailey. She’ll be looking after you for a few weeks.Bailey Tallet: What?[to a shocked Bailey]Charlie Kenton: Oh, by the way, I need you to look after the kid for a few weeksBailey Tallet: Charlie!Charlie Kenton: More like eight.Max Kenton: I want half that money.Charlie Kenton: Are we back to this again?

[referring to Noisy Boy’s container]Max Kenton: Is there a real robot boxer in there?Bailey Tallet: Noisy Boy’s in there, you ever heard of him?Max Kenton: Of course. He fought Rubicon for the WRB belt in two thousand sixteen.

[as Charlie and Bailey open up Noisy Boy’s container]Max Kenton: I’ve watched that fight with Rubicon, like twenty times. He should have had him in the third round, but Rubicon got lucky with a huge right and ended it.

[as Charlie turns Noisy Boy to life and he steps out of his container making Max jump back]Charlie Kenton: Relax, kid. He’s on our side.Bailey Tallet: That’s not funny.Charlie Kenton: Uh, kind of funny.Bailey Tallet: You know he has voice recognition, right?Max Kenton: No, he doesn’t.Bailey Tallet: No, he didn’t in the league. Charlie Kenton: But when Noisy fought in Brazil they must have put it in. Brazilians are crazy about that talk to you robot crap.

[Max takes over Noisy Boys voice recognition headset and give him instruction in Japanese]Charlie Kenton: Woh! Woh! What was that? Was that Japanese?[Max gives Noisy Boy more instructions in Japanese]Bailey Tallet: Let me see if I can reset him to English, hang on.Charlie Kenton: How the hell do you know Japanese?Max Kenton: Video games.Charlie Kenton: You play video games in Japanese?Max Kenton: Japanese bootlegs are always better.

[as Charlie is about to leave in his truck with Noisy Boy he sees Max holding up the keys to his truck]Charlie Kenton: Give me the keys.Max Kenton: I’m coming with you.Charlie Kenton: No, you’re not.Max Kenton: Why not?Charlie Kenton: Because I don’t want you with me, okay?Max Kenton: I’m either coming with you or you’re fishing for your keys in the sewer. You’re choice. What’s it gonna be, old man?[Max drops the key but catches them quickly before they go into the sewer]Max Kenton: Oh, my God! That was close, wasn’t it?Charlie Kenton: Don’t do that again. Don’t! Don’t!Max Kenton: That’s scaring you, isn’t it?Charlie Kenton: Don’t.Max Kenton: Don’t do this…don’t do this again?[Max drops the keys and catches them again before they drop into the sewer]Charlie Kenton: Don’t’!Max Kenton: Woh! Woh!Charlie Kenton: Get in. Just get in, will you? Give me the keys, first.Max Kenton: No, you can wait until I get in the truck. Thanks, big pops.

[at the underground robot-fighting arena]Charlie Kenton: Give me the main event.Finn: Come on, Charlie.Charlie Kenton: Finn, this is Noisy Boy. An original top machine old bot. He was a world war bot league boxer, come on!Finn: You wanna fight Midas? Fifty thousand guaranteed. Winner takes all.Charlie Kenton: Fifty, really? Fifty? Now you’re talkin’.[Max tries to get Charlie’s attention]Max Kenton: Listen! Listen! Listen![to Finn]Charlie Kenton: Give me a second.Max Kenton: We should take an undercurrent fight, make a little cash and get the hell outta here!Charlie Kenton: Boy, first there is no we! Second, he’s gonna crush Midas and I’m gonna make some real cash.[turns to Finn]Charlie Kenton: We’ll take Midas!

[watching as Noisy Boy is getting beat up badly by Midas]Max Kenton: That’s illegal!Charlie Kenton: This is the underworld, kid! There are no rules!

[Finn is doing a commentary of the fight to the crowd]Finn: Now we’re seeing the Midas![as Charlie watches Noisy Boy get pummeled again]Charlie Kenton: No! Hands up!Finn: Get back in that corner, bitch and take this woman like a man!

[after Noisy Boy has lost the fight to Midas]Charlie Kenton: Are you hungry?[he throws Max a paper bag with some food in it]Charlie Kenton: I’ll save what’s left of Noisy Boy’s voice recognition but other than that he’s trash. I gotta get another robot together. Just need to find…[Max takes out the food from the paper bag and looks at it]Charlie Kenton: What?Max Kenton: I hate hamburgers.Charlie Kenton: What kid hates burgers? Fine. Fine. More for me.[he takes the bag from Max]Charlie Kenton: Here, drink this.

[referring to Noisy Boy losing getting badly beaten in the fight with Midas]Max Kenton: You never should have taken that fight.Charlie Kenton: Oh, really? Really? Thanks, genius!Max Kenton: Do you even think about the stuff you do before you do it? You had no idea how to fight that fight! Those combination codes, you didn’t even know what half of them even meant. You just threw him in there cocky and half-assed! Of course you lost, you didn’t even give him a chance.Charlie Kenton: He wasn’t that good.Max Kenton: Noisy Boy was a great robot.Charlie Kenton: Was! Was a great robot! Back in the league, back in the day. But look around you, kid. This place, this place is where once great robots go to die,Max Kenton: So throw him away. That’s what you do, right? Anything you don’t need, you just throw away?Charlie Kenton: Wow. It’s been a long night, alright? You wanna sleep in doors? Now shut up and get in the truck.[Max just looks at him]Charlie Kenton: Don’t look at me like that. Get in the truck![Max gets up and goes into the truck]

[Charlie stops off at a recycling center]Charlie Kenton: Right, you stay put. I’m gonna look for some parts.Max Kenton: I’m coming with you.Charlie Kenton: Huh?Max Kenton: That drink has my heart pounding. If I sit in this truck on myself my head will explode.Charlie Kenton: Whatever. Just keep up!

[after breaking into the recycling center]Max Kenton: What are we looking for?Charlie Kenton: Anything. Anything I can use to put a fighting bot together.Max Kenton: Hey, look!Charlie Kenton: What?Max Kenton: It’s so small.[Max shines his flash light on an old robot head]Charlie Kenton: Oh, yeah. That’s before your time. That’s a Generation One. The very first fighting bot, they wanted him to look like us. The more human the better. Crazy how quick everything changes.[he gives a part to Max]Charlie Kenton: Put that in your cart.Max Kenton: What changed?Charlie Kenton: Good question. Boxing, human boxing. It just faded.Max Kenton: Why?Charlie Kenton: Cause the money moved on. I mean, people wanted more carnage, more show.

[as they are looking for parts in the recycling center]Charlie Kenton: You still had human fighters, human bodies. So, you couldn’t give the people what they really wanted. True, no hold barred violence. So, the next logical step get the human out of there and let the machines kill each other.Max Kenton: Do you miss it? Boxing, do you miss it?Charlie Kenton: Be careful.Max Kenton: What? I wanna know!Charlie Kenton: Be careful, you’re on a cliff.[Max look back and sees that he’s standing at the very edge of a muddy cliff]Max Kenton: Woh! That’s a long way down. If you fell, you’d get like…[suddenly the ground Max is standing on gives way beneath him sending him down a slippery slope]

[after Charlie’s saved Max from falling down the cliff Max notices an old robot jutting out of the mud]Max Kenton: Charlie, I think there’s an old robot in there.Charlie Kenton: So what? Let’s go! Come on!Max Kenton: I’m takin’ him with me. He saved my life.Charlie Kenton: No, you’re not take…he did not save your life! I saved your life! Let’s go!Max Kenton: Could you just bring the cart to the edge? I’ll use the winch to get him out.Charlie Kenton: You want that piece of junk? You get the cart yourself, I’m threw here!

[referring to all the parts Charlie has brought back with him]Bailey Tallet: This is what’s left of Noisy Boy?Charlie Kenton: That’s it. His head just made a nice addition in front of the Crash Palace.[he laughs]Bailey Tallet: It’s not funny.Charlie Kenton: Come on. Let’s get a robot, you and me.Bailey Tallet: Yeah, good idea. Your broke, I’m almost there myself.Charlie Kenton: No…Bailey Tallet: Charlie, you’ve just destroyed the best shot you had.Charlie Kenton: We’ll put one together, you’re brilliant at this. There’s some good stuff here.Bailey Tallet: No, there’s nothing here!Charlie Kenton: There is! Look!Bailey Tallet: Charlie, all your junk is…it’s junk!

Bailey Tallet: You’re not even in the game anymore, Charlie. It’s all garbage.Charlie Kenton: Alright! I heard you! It’s garbage! It’s junk!Bailey Tallet: Don’t get loud with me! You’re your problem, Charlie.Charlie Kenton: What’s that supposed to mean?Bailey Tallet: I have been here for you a long time, Charlie. In the ring, out of the ring and the whole ugly spiral down. And I’m tired! My father invested everything he had in your fight career, Charlie. We loved…he loved you like family. And this…[putting out here arms referring to her gym]Bailey Tallet: …is his home! I’m just trying not to let it die, that’s my plan. What’s yours?

Bailey Tallet: You’re done, right? You’re finally done, cause I sure as hell am, Charlie. I got nothing left.Charlie Kenton: Alright. Maybe there’s something here, this…this robot the kid brought in last night. Will you just look at it for me? Please?[she nods her head]Charlie Kenton: Bailey?Bailey Tallet: I’ve never seen anything like it before. He’s Generation Two, but barely. I found a power cell that fits him and I hooked him up to this old GT remote I had, so. You can at least move him around, Charlie, but he’s crap.Charlie Kenton: Right, so maybe I could get a sparing gig for him, make a few hundred bucks or something.Bailey Tallet: Charlie, please. Stop!Charlie Kenton: I’m just trying to…Bailey Tallet: Stop!Max Kenton: He’s my robot! Okay? It took me half the night dragging him out of there. He’s mine.Charlie Kenton: Oh, he’s yours, yeah. But the parts we’re putting in him, are mine!Bailey Tallet: You two idiots should at least see if he powers up before you start fighting over him.

[as they power up Max’s robot it stares at the three of them and begins copying their various body movements]Bailey Tallet: Looks like he’s got a shadow function. That’s…that’s pretty rare. He can mime your movements and store them in memory, Max.Charlie Kenton: You think there’s anything in here we could use?Bailey Tallet: Not much.[to Max who’s totally absorbed in the robot]Charlie Kenton: There’s a bucket…hey?[he snaps his fingers to get Max’s attention]Charlie Kenton: Hey, there’s a bucket I use to wash the trucks sometimes. Now you should use it to clean him up. He smells like crap. Wash yourself off too, while you’re at it. You stink.

[referring to Max’s robot]Bailey Tallet: So I switched him to remote, it’s pretty basic. [she gives Max the remote control]Bailey Tallet: Just use the toggles here to steer him and walk him. So you play video games, right?Max Kenton: Of course.Bailey Tallet: Okay, same idea, only this one’s a thousand pound robot.Max Kenton: Cool.

[after washing off and cleaning the old robot]Max Kenton: He’s name is Atom. Can we get him a fight?Charlie Kenton: I don’t think he was ever a boxing robot.Bailey Tallet: He’s a G2, built in early two thousand fourteen. He was a sparring bot.Charlie Kenton: They must have built robots like this more like to mirror the fighting style of any other robot.Max Kenton: Okay, so can we get him a fight?Charlie Kenton: Are you not listening? He’s a sparring bot, right? Built to take a lot of hits, but never dishing out any real punishment.Bailey Tallet: We can always try to sell off the parts.Max Kenton: Can’t you get him a fight?

[Charlie gets frustrated and mimics Max]Charlie Kenton: Oh! ‘Why can’t you get him a fight? Get him a fight!’ God, you don’t quit, do you? You want me to put him in some bottom room scrap fest to the death? Come on, I saw how scared you were at Crash Palace. Yeah! The places that would let you fight this robot would make you pee your little pants.Max Kenton: Excellent. Get him a fight.[Max turns and walks off with Atom]Charlie Kenton: Stubborn kid.Bailey Tallet: Surprise, surprise.

[Max and Atom jog through the neighborhood then Atom to pick Max up and they look at each other]Max Kenton: Can you understand me?[Atom looks at Max understandingly]Max Kenton: Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.

Max Kenton: You’ve known Charlie a long time.Bailey Tallet: Too long. We both kind of grew up in this gym. My dad, he trained him.[she points to a photo on the wall]Bailey Tallet: That’s them. That’s Charlie.Max Kenton: What was he like?Bailey Tallet: As a boxer?Max Kenton: As anything.Bailey Tallet: He was somethin’. He was lean, tough, no quit, no fear.

Bailey Tallet: I have this uh…this newspaper article from Phoenix two thousand seven, when Charlie fought Niko Tandy, the top contender.Max Kenton: You were at the Niko Tandy fight?Bailey Tallet: He was! Charlie was just supposed to be the warm up fight, an easy win. Niko wasn’t supposed to break a sweat, but nobody taught Charlie that, so he just kept comin’ and comin’ at him. [she finds the newspaper article and show it to Max]Bailey Tallet: Check this out.[Max takes the article]Bailey Tallet: That’s Charlie. First Niko couldn’t believe the balls on this nobody, but Charlie kept comin’ and that’s when Niko got scared.Max Kenton: Really?Bailey Tallet: Really. Now he was toying with Niko, top contender, number two in the world and Charlie was dancin’ with him. Pop-pop-bam-pop! Charlie was floatin’ inches off the canvas that night. He was like a ghost, Niko couldn’t even see him, but I could. He was beautiful. He was beautiful.

[to Bailey]Max Kenton: So what happened? Did Charlie beat Niko Tandy?[before Bailey answers suddenly Charlie appears from behind]Charlie Kenton: No. Niko Tandy put me on my ass in the twelfth round. Twice. Second time for good, lights out.Bailey Tallet: You were ahead on the score cards going into the twelfth round. Niko Tandy rung my bell and went on to be the undefeated world champ for the next three years.Max Kenton: So he knocked you out?Charlie Kenton: Oh, yes! So did a lot of guys.Bailey Tallet: And you knocked a lot of guys out too, Charlie.Charlie Kenton: Twenty four and nineteen, it’s not exactly a career.Bailey Tallet: Twenty four and nineteen! But every fight a knock out.Charlie Kenton: Yep.Bailey Tallet: Win or lose, fight’s not over…Bailey and Charlie: …till someone’s out on the mat. Charlie Kenton: Your old man taught me that.Bailey Tallet: Damn straight he taught you that.

Max Kenton: Who else did you fight?Charlie Kenton: Go get your stuff together.Max Kenton: I don’t need to. Did you ever fight for the title?Charlie Kenton: Yeah, you do. We leave in an hour. Go!Max Kenton: Wow! Here.[he tries to give the newspaper article of Charlie and Tandy’s fight back to Bailey]Bailey Tallet: Keep it.Max Kenton: Thanks.

[referring to Max]Bailey Tallet: I like that kid.Charlie Kenton: He likes you.Bailey Tallet: Charlie, what I said yesterday…Charlie Kenton: No. Nothin’ more to say, Bailes. I’m headin’ off to Atlanta tonight, see if I can get a partner or raise some money to get a new bot. That’s what you wanted, right? Me gone?[Bailey hesitates before replying]Bailey Tallet: Yeah, that’s what I wanted.Charlie Kenton: Okay.

[at the WRB Championship arena in Atlanta while Max is waiting for Charlie he watches reporters put questions to robot Champion, Zeus’ owner and designer]Starblaze Area Reporter #1: Is this Tak Mashido’s greatest creation?Tak Mashido: Zeus is autonomous and constantly evolving during the fights. With his adaptive operating system he recognizes patterns and rewrites his fight code instantaneously.[the swarm of reporters all start shouting and asking questions at the same time]Starblaze Area Reporter #2: It’s your six pack out there, are you saying that Zeus…Tak Mashido: I’m saying that, no matter what happens in that ring, the results of any fight is inevitable. What Zeus sees, he kills.

Finn: I’m not going into business with you, bro.Charlie Kenton: I just need break here, Finn. Come on!Finn: What about that old bot truck out there, man? You always got somethin’ in there.Charlie Kenton: An old G2 sparring bot, it ain’t worth the paint left on it. What am I supposed to do with that? Hmm?Finn: The Zoo. Take him to The Zoo, they fight there tomorrow.Charlie Kenton: Not even I wouldn’t be caught dead at The Zoo. I mean, Finn, man, I just need a little loan. Somethin’.Finn: What? You serious, Charlie?Charlie Kenton: A loan? Somethin’? Couple of hundred, a few hundred, whatever you got. Huh? You know I’m good for it, alright?Finn: Look, I know you, man. And as much as I like you, dude, you’re a bad bet, brother.

[as Charlie looks for Max he sees robot’s upper body part still furiously punching the air being carried out on a gurney with Max following behind]Max Kenton: Did you see that? That’s what’s left of Axelrob!Charlie Kenton: Where the hell have you been? I told you to stay put.Max Kenton: You should have seen him, Zeus was like amazing!Charlie Kenton: Amazing, huh?Max Kenton: Unbelievable, yeah! He was just peppering Axelrob with punches, but so fast. He was incredible. Axelrob didn’t even land a punch, he didn’t even survive the first round!Charlie Kenton: Is that what you think boxing is? Zeus beatin’ up some steel that they feed him?Max Kenton: Axelrob is not just some piece of steel. And yeah, that is what boxing is now! Deal with it. And I love it, and I’m in it now.Charlie Kenton: Oh, you’re in them now, are you? Oh, you and your G2 sparring bot?Max Kenton: He’s more than that! And if you just get us a fight, you’d see.

Charlie Kenton: Alright, you’re in luck, kid. There’s a lovely place called the Zoo. Tomorrow afternoon you’ll get your fight.Max Kenton: Great!Charlie Kenton: And it will be the end.[he hands Max a paper bag]Max Kenton: I told you I hate hamburgers![Charlie snaps the bag back from Max and tears it open]Charlie Kenton: It’s a burrito!

[Charlie wakes up to find Max teaching Atom fight moves]Charlie Kenton: You been up all night? Huh?Max Kenton: Yeah, I cleaned him up. I’m using shadow mode to program some fights and we should sync him to remote.Charlie Kenton: Uh, yeah. I saw that uh…double-up ball punch you were showin’ him. That’s…that’s lethal stuff.Max Kenton: Let’s do this.Charlie Kenton: Jeez! Let’s do breakfast first.

[as they walk Atom to his fight at The Zoo]Charlie Kenton: You know you’re bringing him home in pieces, right?Max Kenton: We’ll see.

Kingpin: Kingpin, call me Kingpin.Charlie Kenton: Alright, Kingpin.Charlie Kenton: So uh…Max Kenton: How much a round?Kingpin: What is this, are we on a field trip?[Charlie just looks at Kingpin]Kingpin: Alright, he can fight my robot, Metro. I give you one hundred bucks for one too many rounds.[to Max] Take it.Max Kenton: Three hundred.Kingpin: One hundred! Baby boy, I’m gonna give you hundred dollars just to get in there with Metro.

[Max continues to negotiate Atom’s fighting price with Kingpin]Max Kenton: How about five hundred for two rounds?[Kingpin laughs]Kingpin: Two rounds! Two rounds! Son, he ain’t gonna survive one round.Max Kenton: What if he does?Kingpin: He ain’t!Max Kenton: Let’s just say he does.Kingpin: If he’s still standin’ after one round, I’ll give you a thousand bucks.[Kingpin’s entourage all gasp with surprise at his decision, Kingpin turns and shouts at them]Kingpin: Shut it![to Max]Kingpin: But if he dies in there? Which he will, Junior, I get to keep what’s left.[to Max]Charlie Kenton: Take the hundred.[to Kingpin]Max Kenton: Deal.

[referring to Max’s deal with Kingpin over Atom fighting his robot]Charlie Kenton: You should have taken the hundred.Max Kenton: I got you a thousand.Charlie Kenton: Yeah, if he wins.

[as Atom begins his fight with Metro]Charlie Kenton: You want me to drive?Max Kenton: He’s my bot! I got this!Charlie Kenton: This ain’t a video game, kid. This is for real, right here!Max Kenton: You said he’d fall to pieces, what difference does it make?Charlie Kenton: Alright.Max Kenton: I got this.

[to Max as Atom is continually being punched by Metro]Charlie Kenton: He can take a hit, I’ll give you this, kid. You’re robot can take a hit.

[after Metro has knocked out Atom]Max Kenton: Get up, Atom!Charlie Kenton: He can’t hear you. You know you’re takin’ to a machine, right?Max Kenton: Get up, Atom![suddenly Atom awakens and stands just in time to finish the first round]